Way back in Nov, hubby decided that a birthday was a good excuse for a visit to a SanP. Whole-heartedly agreed, so, after looking at Kruger (Roodewal being an option, but uncertain of progress on renovations), we decided the semantics of getting the mob there would be a lot easier (and cheaper) if we went to KTP. So we grabbed the bookings that we could & informed the mob that they should put in for a week’s leave. We also weren’t too sure exactly how many feet the mob would consist of. As it was, being a mob, we couldn’t get a booking at Nossob or any of the small wilderness camps so we had to be content with 3 nights at Twee Rivieren and 3 at Kalahari Tented Camp. Great choice anyway !

A month before (when the final payment was due), we ascertained exactly who the mob would consist of and when and how we would all travel.

The mob : hubby and I; eldest daughter BusyB and son Ben (just 6); daughter J and boyfriend D; and son SK and girlfriend R, who would fly up to Upington on the Wed to join us and fly back again on the Sun. (SK had problems taking the full week’s leave)

Departure day finally dawned and, with the house/pet sitters installed, vehicles packed and great excitement, we hit the road for our overnight stop at Keimoes.

Seen on the way : zebra, ostrich, eland, baboons, mongoose and springbok.

While Ben went for a swim and BusyB went for a run, we practiced taking pics of the locals.

First stop – Wimpy for breakfast Then off to Skaapland for our week’s meat supply, a pop in to the supermarket for last minute bread and fruit juice and off to the airport to collect the X-Trail we’d booked and that SK and R would drop off when they left on Sun.

Finally we were on the last stretch and the excitement was only marred by the number of bat-eared foxes that were road kill on the last stretch to Ashkam We counted at least 6.

Permit collection at the gate was quick and easy and handled with a smile, as was check-in at reception. We booked a sunset drive for the same evening as there was no drive planned for the following day. We were allocated bungalows 10, 11 and 12 and went to offload. Hubby and I took the middle bungalow and we became the communal kitchen and eating hang-out – probably due to the fact that most of the food was packed in our vehicle

By 2 we were ready for a quick drive to Houmoed and back to see how long the grass was.

It was long – and green. Looked more like wheat fields than the Kalahari !

We gathered at reception at 5.30, signed indemnities in hand, for the sunset drive.Happily it was just our mob Dawid introduced himself and we set off up the Nossob road.It is going to be a good road when it is finished. They have built it up and compacted it and it looks a bit like the dune roads.Dawid explained that there had been a lot of game along the Nossob, but that there was very little around now and he was sure the road works had disturbed it all.We saw a giant eagle owl (too hidden for pics) and some gemsbok and springbok, but quite far away among the dunes.

At the break, Ben kept Dawid busy looking for animal tracks and asking loads of questions about all the holes in the ground and what could possibly live there. Dawid was wonderful – answered all the questions and went out of his way to find interesting things to show Ben. Even managed to catch a ghecko to show us We were very impressed with his patience.

Once the lights were on, the fun began Apart from attracting every flying thing known to man and some that looked positively alien, the fun of id’ing the eyes started. First up was an AWC – not impressed with us or our lights – it stalked off and hid behind a bush.We then spotted a cape fox and behind it another AWC. It looked as if the cat was stalking the fox, but not so – a pounce and we witnessed our first kill – the cat had caught a mouse They had both obviously been stalking the same mouse The cat came quite close to the vehicle, mouse in mouth, but the fox went off in search of other dinner.

The fox

The cat

Pounce

Shocking pics, but you get the idea

Next up was a spotted eagle owl who posed beautifully for pics – all of which we managed to mess up

The best of a bad lot

We also saw many, many spring-hares. They must be the most comical creatures around. Easily id’ed once the eyes started jumping up and down

After our most enjoyable sunset drive, it was a back to cook supper. We turned on the outside lights and soon found that sitting on the patio was almost impossible – unless you liked being covered in moths, grasshoppers and beetles ! I moved to the picnic table next to the braai, (limited space inside & the girls were doing the cooking ) and soon had a yellow mongoose running almost between my feet to catch beetles. He could teach my cat a thing or two about catching moths as well Unfortunately no pics – the cameras were inside and it was a mission to get in and out of the door without inviting half the bug population in with you.

A note about the family bungalows at Twee Rivieren. Again no pics – I know we meant to take some – must just have been the constant rush that it slipped my mind.

The bungalows have 2 separate rooms. From the outside, the first room contains the fridge, 2-plate stove and sink. It also has 2 smaller beds with a cabinet between them. A door leads from there into the main room which has 2 beds, cupboards, dining table and 4 chairs and a hand basin and mirror and an air-conditioner. At the back of the room are 2 doors – one leads into the toilet and the other into the bathroom – shower only, no bath.

What worked for us (especially after all the bugs on the 1st night) was to close the bathroom and toilet windows as soon as we got back to camp (even lunch-time) and make sure all the inter-leading doors were closed at all times. It kept all the bugs out of the main bedroom and, more importantly, we didn’t have any bats inside Unlike others of our party ....

After a long, exciting day and a late supper, we all crashed, looking forward to morning and our first full day in the park.

We also saw many, many spring-hares. They must be the most comical creatures around. Easily id’ed once the eyes started jumping up and down

...Yes..hence the idea to name the trip March Madness...As mad as a spring (March) hare!!! It was decided by the mob that these are the most confused mammals on the planet, being decidedly kangaroo-like but much cuter and related to the common rat. They are definitely ubiquitous and must account for most of the burrows seen on the rd out of Twee Riveeren. D decided that they were the perfect adornment for his new garden at home and was planning multiple ambushes lol. We decided that they were not tasty at all as it did not seem that they were scarce enough to have been the focus of much predation; but acc to the Kalahari field guide a total of 21 predators eat them regularly. This earned them the distinction of Kalahari Mickey-D's. When you're feeling lazy, you can always rely on them-up till late.I have to commend the field giuide, Dawie, on an excellent and informative game drive we had a ball despite the bug-factor. On return to camp we found that the giant millipedes were out in full-force which kept Ben and his little camp mate busy for hours! It faintly resembled a space fiction movie...the bug wars and the milli-droids...or something.

Miracles we can perform immediately, the impossible takes a bit of time...

The plan for early morning was that BusyB would head out with Ben, J would go for a quick drive and come back for breakfast and fetch D, who was going to stay in camp to check e-mail and work problems, and hubby and I were going to head out on our own. We agreed to meet up at Auchterlonie about 10:30 ish.

BusyB and J went out – as the gates opened. Hubby and I were a little slower

As we drove thru the gates the cell rang – J asking where we were. She was staking out the waterhole and BusyB was driving back towards camp as it appears a German couple had told them they’d just seen a leopard walk into the bushes in the river-bed ! They then drove off. As we pulled in behind BusyB, what did we see ?

Followed by (pics taken into the sun)

J had been on her way back and, before we could phone her, pulled up next to us. So our 3 vehicles followed mom and cub along the river, heading towards the waterhole at Samevloeiing.

To say we were ecstatically excited would be an understatement

Cub jumped up onto a dead tree to check for birds

And then sniffed a pole

After a quick claw-sharpen, it was off after mom again.

Once they’d crossed the road in front of us, we went down to the waterhole to wait for them.

After much sniffing the ground, they arrived and settled down for a long drink.

Just love the tea-pot tail

Thirst satisfied, they started moving off

And were soon lost to view.

My sighting log so far read : wildebeest, leopard and cub What a great start to the day – and it was not quite 7:30

J headed back to camp to tell D what he’d missed and the rest of us carried on over the dune road.

The dune road produced the black korhaan still shouting his head off to whoever would listen, some gemsbok in the distance and a group of ostrich – also quite far away.

As we came down to the Auob, we found 2 yellow mongoose saying “good morning”

Some springbok and a kori bustard were also about.

At Houmoed, we saw this fellow wandering off to find a good place for a doze

Further up in the dunes were a couple more snoozers

We counted again and again and were still not too sure whether there were 5 lions or 7

However many there were, they were settled in for the day – or until the sun moved

We sat & watched them for 30 mins until J and D arrived, then headed on.

Next up was cause for more excitement Peering through the flowers

Meerkats We hadn’t seen them last trip, so were really thrilled We watched them digging

And rushing around. Then, tails up, they all vanished into the long grass in the river bed.

We just had to take a picture of the Kalahari as everyone knows it – the gemsbok posing on top of a red dune (well – it would be red if there wasn’t so much grass )

We also found many of these spider-webs

Soon we arrived at Auchterlonie for a much need break.

BusyB had seen the lions at Munro as well, but we had missed them.

After a wander around, we all headed back to TR for an afternoon nap.

On the way, at Munro, we came across a bakkie stopped behind a Pajero with a flat tyre. We stopped to see if we could assist but were assured all was under control. The road had recently been graded and it appears that a root, sticking out of the sand, had lodged in the side-wall of the tyre and effectively popped it The 2 couples had been camping at Mata Mata and commented on how quiet, game-wise, it was in that area. Oh dear – we were going on to KTC

The Houmoed lion had moved position when we got back there

and there was another male we hadn’t seen earlier lying next to a lioness.

@Sable -- we couldn't agree more ! Thing is, although both us and the folk with the flat tyre had heard that there were lions at Munro, none of us had seen them at that stage It was only later that afternoon, when we saw where they were, that we realised they could well have been watching the entire tyre change Must be a lesson in there somewhere

J wandered in to our bungalow shortly before 6 wanting help. She had a row of blisters on the back of her upper thigh just above shorts level and was looking for the first aid box. She said the burning had woken her just before 4 am Some cream and a plaster later, she thought she’d survive the day. We asked her if she’d seen a blister beetle or had one in her bed, but she hadn’t noticed one and that is the only culprit we could think of. Later that afternoon we found a dead one on the outside chair J had sat on the night before – so presumed she’d sat on it by mistake

We were going to follow the same route as the day before – up to Auchterlonie and back. Could not venture further as hubby had to go thru to Upington that afternoon to collect SK and R.

We were out of the gate shortly before 7 and found some wildebeest, gemsbok and springbok in the river bed near Samevloeiing – quite far and into the sun, so no pics.

On the dune road we came upon 2 steenbokkies, but only 1 gave a half-hearted pose,

Also in the dunes, we found this bird trying to warm up on a branch in the sun. Id please ?

Next up we spent some time watching some very busy ground squirrels who were making the most of all the grass and eating as fast as they could This one doesn’t look as though it will starve during winter

The Houmoed lions were nowhere to be found but the Munro lions were up and about – looking for a good sleeping place no doubt

Looking sleepy

Heading for the rest of the mob

some were tussling

Party’s getting rough – I’m leaving !

And all watched over by big daddy from among the purple catstail (good name under the circumstances)

Once hubby had left, I wandered off to the shop to get some souvenirs for our house-sitters and bumped into Bentony’s hubby. (we had bumped into Bentony and co a couple of times in the park). Bentony, if you’re reading this, thank him for the tip on accommodation in Calvinia – we took his advice on our return trip

After shopping, we saw BusyB and Ben returning from their post nap swim and decided to go out for an evening drive. D wasn’t keen – he had some work to finish up on the computer – so he offered to look after Ben while the 3 of us went out.

We decided to drive up as far as Munro to see if the lazy lions were stirring from their nap yet.

On the way, we noticed a lady in a pick-up who was driving very slowly, stopping every few metres to scan all the trees and ridges. We had seen her before, doing the same, and she’d told us she was determined to find the leopards, but had had no luck yet

The dunes yielded the noisy korhaan and large group of ostrich, and the river bed contained the usual suspects – springbok, gemsbok and a couple of wildebeest. No sign of the herd we’d seen earlier that day – guessed they were half way to Mata Mata by now

The lions were still sleepy

Then one eyed us suspiciously

Gave a huge yawn

And left the group

Not a good pic, but illustrates just how powerful she is – look at those muscles !Gym bunnies – eat your hearts out

Another lioness looked up to see where she was off to

The girls wanted to stay longer – sure that they would soon head down for water – but mom had one eye on the clock, and we, reluctantly, had to go

We counted 12 lions ! We also had the feeling they would be hunting soon as they looked hungry

On the way back, we stopped to take a pic of this little guy doing his job in the evening sun

Nothing at Samevloeiing – apart from the lady looking for leopards – and our last sighting of the evening was a huge cape cobra trying to catch a weaver on the ground under the big nest. The pics were really bad

Then it was back to camp to find D & Ben playing computer games

The girls cooked supper and, shortly after 8.30 pm, hubby arrived back with SK and R – so we were a complete mob at last

Must just thank the TR staff again for their helpfulness – esp as the plane had been delayed.

It was a very happy mob that sat down for supper that evening – all looking forward to the move to Kalahari Tented Camp in the morning.

As we were falling asleep at 10:30, an sms – BusyB - we have a bat in our roomSo put it outside. Can’t reach it – too high. Well sleep with the windows open and hope it leaves. SK also has a bat. Well he can open the door & let it out, goodnight !Such a sympathetic mom Not sure whether the bats found their own way out, or whether they slept with the light on to keep the bats quiet We slept like babies !

Must state here that R had never ever been to any game reserve before, in fact I’m not sure she’s even been to a zoo – so this experience was all totally new to her

While the men were packing the vehicles, she said that she’d love to see a giraffe as she’d never seen one before except in pictures. We told her that we may well be lucky, as there were giraffe up towards Mata Mata.

Hubby and I hadn’t seen a jackal yet either – although J and D had seen 2 galloping across the river bed and vanishing in the dunes. So we were looking forward to spotting a jackal as well.

We did not leave early as we had some paperwork to complete at reception, so, as soon as it was all in order, we were on our way.

Samevloeiing yielded nothing but doves and pretty yellow flowers

There was quite a big herd of hartebeest walking thru the dunes. Had to take the pic as we still couldn’t quite believe how green everything was

We saw the usual suspects – wildebeest, gemsbok and springbok and a couple of ostriches looking for some sand to take a bath in.

No lions at Houmoed.

We stopped to watch some ground squirrels and J & D went on ahead.

We then caught up to a very excited car full of kids – R had said to J – “look, there are some cat things”

These were the “cat things” (sorry R, but it really was priceless ) they’d seen

Collared mom and 4 sub-adult cubs

They were very alert – it was near Munro – and quite restless.

Mom

cubs milling around

We were all thrilled with seeing them, but couldn’t stay too long as we had quite a long way to go still.

Next up was a martial eagle at the top of his tree

Soon it was time to stop at Auchterlonie. R was a bit nervous about getting out of the car, but soon relaxed enough to wander around a bit.